IBO Report: Spend to Fix New York City's Aging Bridges, or Else

Increased spending will be necessary to improve the condition of New York City's bridges, according to the Independent Budget Office.

"Alternatively, any reduction in spending from current levels carries the risk of deterioration of bridge quality," said the watchdog organization, which studied the results of $6.1 billion of capital commitments, in 2012 constant dollars using the Rider Levett Bucknall index for construction costs, made for 209 bridges citywide from 2000 to 2012.

The report, which IBO released Wednesday, said that while the city continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on bridge capital projects, average bridge condition has changed little since 2003.

The IBO report comes amid widespread discussion about infrastructure in New York City, notably after a building collapse in East Harlem last month killed eight people.

Center for an Urban Future, a New York think tank, issued a 68-page report - one day before the collapse - that called for $47 billion in capital spending over five years to fix bridges, roads, gas mains and sewer lines crumbling at the seams.

One week later, engineer and former New York City traffic commissioner "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz proposed an overhaul of the region's bridge-tolling system that he said could raise $1.5 billion annually for infrastructure.

"Letting our roads and bridges go to hell is not acceptable," John Corlett, New York state legislative committee chairman of the American Automobile Association, said at last month's Move NY workshop session.

New York City undertook a major investment in bridge repair after the state's Department of Transportation in 1999 rated nearly 13% of total bridge deck space in poor condition, including all or parts of the Brooklyn, Macombs Dam and Williamsburg bridges.

IBO found that capital commitments for bridges originally ranked at the lowest condition rating tailed off after 2003 as the investments helped move these bridges closer to a state of good repair, as defined by the Federal Transit Administration.

While the overall condition of bridges in the study has improved, the 2012 weighted average rating was still short of the threshold at which the state no longer defines a bridge as deficient.

"In looking at capital commitments and bridge-condition ratings one general concern is whether DOT is pursuing an efficient capital spending strategy," IBO wrote.

According to IBO, capital expenditures on the bridges in the study averaged around $360 million per year in constant 2012 dollars from 2000 through 2012.

"While the data show an overall positive relationship between the total amount of capital commitments and spending in 2000-2012, and the improvement in bridge condition over the same time span, a breakdown by sub-period shows that the increase in average condition rating largely took place in [calendar] years 2000-2003, a period in which capital spending was relatively low compared with later years, but increasing rapidly," IBO said.

According to the report, capital spending was highest in fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2009 through 2012.

Rising construction costs became less of a concern after the construction boom ended in 2008, but may be a problem in the future, the report said.

Other budgetary pressures, notably rising debt service and health care costs, may also constrain the city's ability to invest in infrastructure, according to IBO.

Capital commitments for bridges spiked in 2010 due to the influx of federal stimulus funds. One year later, though, the city reduced commitments in its 10-year capital strategy downward by 10% to reduce the projected burden of future debt service.

"As the city, state, and nation confront fiscal constraints in coming years, spending on the city's bridges may be reduced further," IBO said.

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Transportation industry New York
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